|
SCREENING LOG
-2/23-2/29, 2004
Back to 2004 Index
My Beautiful Laundrette (1985, Stephen Frears)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091578/
yes (awkwardly crafted and yet irrepressibly, refreshingly
original in its cast and settings. Seems to me though that
Frears has worked steadily to polish the former while perhaps
losing sight of the latter)
The Road To Morocco (1942, David Butler)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035262/
yes (I think I need to see more of these Hope-Crosby movies,
this one was a delight -- though the climax seems to be an
inadvertent reference to the devious 20th century practices
of the CIA, played uncomfortably for comic relief.)
Osama (2003, Siddiq Barmak)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368913/
yes (barely -- more for the significance of what is being
shown rather than how)
My Architect: A Son's Journey (2003, Nathaniel Kahn)
YES (possibly even better than my two favorite docs of last
year, CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS and THE FOG OF WAR, in that
it delves as deeply into ambiguous histories and personal
wounds and yet retains all the heart, soul and sincerity that's
ultimately missing in the other two... perhaps because the
filmmaker has done more to implicate himself in the film than
Errol Morris or Andrew Jarecki. The end of this movie is something
like a spiritual experience, testifying to the transformative
power of art, so I don't feel so bad about missing out on
THE PASSION ).
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, Michael Curtiz)
second viewing
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029843/
yes (hadn't realized that I'd seen this as a kid, but then
again this is one of those films you feel you've seen whether
or not you've actually seen it)
Twentieth Century (1934, Howard Hawks)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025919/
yes (with frequent flashes of YES -- a re-viewing might raise
this but sometimes the film simply got on my nerves, though
now I see where John Waters' DESPERATE LIVING may have derived
its hysterical histrionics! It would have helped if it were
paced with the same level of intricately choreographed precision
as...)
Bringing Up Baby (1938, Howard Hawks) third viewing
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029947/
YES
Pakeezah (1971, Kamal Amrohi) second viewing
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067546/
yes (got a better quality version of this which helped me
figure out what's good and not so good about this film. It
does lavish in swooningly romantic lyricism quite unlike any
other Bollywood film I've seen, but not as often or as consistently
as I'd like to give it a YES.)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919, Robert Wiene) third
viewing
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0010323/
YES
The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964, Pier Paolo
Pasolini) second viewing
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058715/
Gibson's brouhaha provoked me to finally watch the DVD given
to me as a wedding gift by a certain Pasoliniphile. Much much
better than the crap third generation VHS copy I have, it
allowed me to appreciate even more deeply the great thing
about this film: the faces. I can't think of a more stunning
assortment of human faces than in any other film, not prettified
or artsified in any way, they're just what they are, and that's
beautiful and quite moving, as moving as the task Pasolini
asks them to take on so humbly in enacting the Gospel. Still
I'm not sure I approve as much of the straight-on literal
way Pasolini tells the story, but in its own way it lets the
rough edges of the source text show, and those rough edges
could work as an entrypoint for an active-minded viewer (as
opposed to the passively accepting flock that most Bible movies
preach to). Not quite sure I'm convinced of that, so a yes
for the handling of the material, a YES YES YES for the faces,
averaging out to a YES.
Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang) third viewing
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/
YES
Back to 2004 Index
|
